feeding slings ants?

[FrDoc]

What is this, thread necromancy?

Nah, I just get tired of the “...there’s a bald spot...”, and “...it’s not eating...”. Anything for a break.

 

[Wolfspidurguy]

does any one know if i could feed my slings local ants from my back garden? the reason i ask is because the micro crickets are far too expensive considering only 10% arrived alive, and after feeding the 3 slings once the remaning few have died too. also they are a nightmare trying to pick the little buggers up and getting them into the vials unharmed. what do you think? the ants a roughly twice the size of the micro's and probably 1/3 the size of the slings.

DONT! never feed inverts that you did not catch in the wild wild caught prey ESPECIALLY ants because they can spray formic acid, bite, and or sting

 

[Jhoelb]

DONT! never feed inverts that you did not catch in the wild wild caught prey ESPECIALLY ants because they can spray formic acid, bite, and or sting

So if I caught it wild its ok if I feed them wild prey?

 

[boina]

So if I caught it wild its ok if I feed them wild prey?

Didn't you just ask that before? I think @Mirandarachnid answered that question pretty comprehensively. If you really want to try feeding ants your spider might not survive that. Ants are not harmless. A few ants can easily overwhelm and kill a spider.

 

[Jhoelb]

Didn't you just ask that before? I think @Mirandarachnid answered that question pretty comprehensively. If you really want to try feeding ants your spider might not survive that. Ants are not harmless. A few ants can easily overwhelm and kill a spider.

Yes I know, I already ruled out fedding it with ants. But I was curious to know if I could feed it wild crickets or flies. My wild kukulcania hibernalis don't seem to mind prey from my back garden. We don't use pesticides nor does my neighbours. There are a whole lot of spiders living in my house feeding, that leads me to asumr that insects in my area are not so contaminated. But I'm not an expert thats why I am asking so much.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

So if I caught it wild its ok if I feed them wild prey?

Sure, you can. I offer to my Lobisón (his name is Luisón btw) directly a lot of WC asado-T's and never had a particular issue

 

[Ungoliant]

Yes I know, I already ruled out fedding it with ants. But I was curious to know if I could feed it wild crickets or flies. My wild kukulcania hibernalis don't seem to mind prey from my back garden.

You can, but it's not recommended due to the potential to expose your spider to toxins or parasites that the wild prey may have encountered.

When I only had true spiders (all wild-caught from my area) and no tarantulas, I did use wild-caught prey. However, I started getting feeders when I got a tarantula, and now I just share them with my true spiders.

We don't use pesticides nor does my neighbours. There are a whole lot of spiders living in my house feeding, that leads me to asumr that insects in my area are not so contaminated.

You see the healthy-looking spiders, but you don't necessarily see the ones that died (or even know why they died).

Insects can travel long distances, so they can still be exposed to pesticides even if you and your neighbors don't use them.

 

[spookyvibes]

Yes I know, I already ruled out fedding it with ants. But I was curious to know if I could feed it wild crickets or flies. My wild kukulcania hibernalis don't seem to mind prey from my back garden. We don't use pesticides nor does my neighbours. There are a whole lot of spiders living in my house feeding, that leads me to asumr that insects in my area are not so contaminated. But I'm not an expert thats why I am asking so much.

Just beause they aren't dead doesn't mean they aren't soaked in pesticides. I live directly next to a cornfield. Scratch that, my house is surrounded by corn fields. The farmers use tons of pesticides each and every year to insure the safety of their plants, and yet my house is swamped with wolf spiders and tons of insects each and every year. Why? Because bugs build up immunities to the pesticides. Let's say for example, there's 1,000 locusts and you want them all dead. You spray them with pesticides, all of them die except for two or three. Those two or three have an immunity to the poison. Those two or three locusts have some baby locusts, and as it turns out, they have passed that immunity gene onto their offspring. And before you know it, you're back to 1,000 locusts all over again, except they're immune to the pesticide you sprayed them with. Your tarantula, however, most likely does not have that immunity. They have not been exposed to the pesticide. So you feed the WC locust to your t, thinking "Man, my tarantula is going to love me for giving it such a big meal!" And then boom. Your tarantula is showing symptoms of DKS or just dies because that locust was covered in pesticides.

This is why you shouldn't feed wild caught prey. Just because the local bugs aren't actively dying in front of your eyes due to pesticides doesn't mean that they haven't been exposed. Even if you aren't like me and live miles from a field of any sort, that doesn't mean that the bugs are pesticide free. You'd be surprised at the distances they can travel, not to mention the fact that small scale gardeners use pesticides as well. Just because your neighbors don't use pesticides doesn't mean someone down the road doesn't, or even someone in your city for that matter.

I could go on for ages about pesticides and why WC prey should be avoided at all costs, but I'll step off my soapbox for now. Hopefully that answered your question

 

[dragonfire1577]

Just feed it the finest steak

 

[Jhoelb]

Just beause they aren't dead doesn't mean they aren't soaked in pesticides. I live directly next to a cornfield. Scratch that, my house is surrounded by corn fields. The farmers use tons of pesticides each and every year to insure the safety of their plants, and yet my house is swamped with wolf spiders and tons of insects each and every year. Why? Because bugs build up immunities to the pesticides. Let's say for example, there's 1,000 locusts and you want them all dead. You spray them with pesticides, all of them die except for two or three. Those two or three have an immunity to the poison. Those two or three locusts have some baby locusts, and as it turns out, they have passed that immunity gene onto their offspring. And before you know it, you're back to 1,000 locusts all over again, except they're immune to the pesticide you sprayed them with. Your tarantula, however, most likely does not have that immunity. They have not been exposed to the pesticide. So you feed the WC locust to your t, thinking "Man, my tarantula is going to love me for giving it such a big meal!" And then boom. Your tarantula is showing symptoms of DKS or just dies because that locust was covered in pesticides.

This is why you shouldn't feed wild caught prey. Just because the local bugs aren't actively dying in front of your eyes due to pesticides doesn't mean that they haven't been exposed. Even if you aren't like me and live miles from a field of any sort, that doesn't mean that the bugs are pesticide free. You'd be surprised at the distances they can travel, not to mention the fact that small scale gardeners use pesticides as well. Just because your neighbors don't use pesticides doesn't mean someone down the road doesn't, or even someone in your city for that matter.

I could go on for ages about pesticides and why WC prey should be avoided at all costs, but I'll step off my soapbox for now. Hopefully that answered your question

Thanks for all that info, makes a lot of sense. My two spiders were caught in my house, there are a lot of spiders living here. So being wild caught i just assumed that they would be fine just eating what the other wild spiders in my house feed on. I caught my kukulcania as an adult and fed her crickets from the forest nearby. Never had a problem, she's super fat now. But with my T sling I want to be safe, it may be immune as it comes from the wild but I think I'll borrow some captive feeders from my friend for it.

Just feed it the finest steak

Lol my friend fed his tarantula raw meat. He's not an expert keeper or anything. But his T's are getting really old, I think its just luck.

You can, but it's not recommended due to the potential to expose your spider to toxins or parasites that the wild prey may have encountered.

When I only had true spiders (all wild-caught from my area) and no tarantulas, I did use wild-caught prey. However, I started getting feeders when I got a tarantula, and now I just share them with my true spiders.




You see the healthy-looking spiders, but you don't necessarily see the ones that died (or even know why they died).

Insects can travel long distances, so they can still be exposed to pesticides even if you and your neighbors don't use them.

I've seen you kukus, I used your recommendations when I started. And gladly I will follow your advice.

 

[Wolfspidurguy]

So if I caught it wild its ok if I feed them wild prey?

its not recomended ut it probably isnt too bad but dont feed them ants for the reasons i listed above. you can get flightless fruit flies tho to feed small inverts

 

[Mirandarachnid]

I think I'll borrow some captive feeders from my friend for it.

Just be sure you return them in good condition

 

[Death Derp]

can earthworms from outside be used as feeders? also, the gardens don't have pesticides nor does the one around. our neighbourhood is pretty organic

 

[Mirandarachnid]

can earthworms from outside be used as feeders? also, the gardens don't have pesticides nor does the one around. our neighbourhood is pretty organic

See all above posts for answers to your question.

Captive bred feeders are the safest. However, you can take whatever chances you want when it comes to the health of your animals.

Sure, you can dig through the trash (dirt) to find scraps (worms/alternate WC feeders) for your dog (T) to eat, but isn't it so much better to just go to a store and buy food that you know is safe?

(if you really want to feed your T's earth worms you can get them from a bait shop.)

 

[Wolfspidurguy]

can earthworms from outside be used as feeders? also, the gardens don't have pesticides nor does the one around. our neighbourhood is pretty organic

not for spiders because they usualy like a hard exoskeleton to bite into but maby some other invert would like it

 

[Jhawk023]

Just crush crickets head and let them scavange feed or but a flightless fruitfly colony my slings lived them otherwise chop up food slings will still eat.

 

[Pseudo]

I wouldn't invite ants into your house. A few got into my house, and the next thing I knew they were trying to setup their colony in one of my terrariums.